"Congressman Price is not running for speaker," a Price spokesman told TPM. "He is focused on real solutions to get America back on track. Those solutions reside in fundamental principles that embrace individual opportunity and economic freedom."

As much fun as ritual political suicide may be to watch, Tom Price was not going to immolate his career over a deal that John Boehner hasn't even struck yet, much less over the fact that Boehner sent a couple of rookie wingnuts back down to Double A because they obviously weren't ready for The Show yet. The real surprise is that Eric Cantor, who has been playing the role of Cassius in this production for going on three years now, hasn't struck yet. That's an indication that Boehner's got more support than the talk-radio right wants to mess with at the moment.

That said, Price would have been a hoot. We could have spent hours watching the House debate why people with pre-existing conditions should die on the sidewalk as a statement of conservative principles, or why the ladies have all the ladyparts medicine they'll ever need. Yes, the Republicans have a very deep bench. Unfortunately, it's located in Bedlam.